Rural voters in Ky., La. favor Trump; Cruz takes rural Maine; Clinton dominates Sanders in rural La.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton continue to score well in rural areas in the South, reports the Daily Yonder, with Trump taking Louisiana and Kentucky on Saturday and Clinton easily winning Louisiana. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had the strongest showing among Republican candidates in rural Maine. Cruz also won Kansas, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Democratic vote in The Sunflower State. Both parties vote today in Mississippi and Michigan, while Republicans also vote in Idaho and Hawaii. (Yonder graphic; click on it for larger version)

Trump earned 46.3 percent of the rural vote in Kentucky, on his way to winning the state over Cruz by 35-31. Cruz got 29.2 percent of rural votes, Ohio Gov. John Kasich 12.2 percent and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio 10.4 percent. Trump was especially popular in Eastern Kentucky coal counties and rural Southern Kentucky, but lost badly to Cruz in Western Kentucky.

Trump edged Cruz for rural votes in Louisiana, 44.1 percent to 39.2 percent, a slightly larger margin than overall, while Rubio was a distant third with 8.9 percent of rural votes. Cruz turned the tables in Maine, winning 46.1 percent of rural votes on his way to winning the state. Trump scored 33.7 percent of rural votes, Kasich 11.1 percent and Rubio 7.4 percent. In the overall vote in Kansas, Cruz beat Trump 48.2 percent to 23.3 percent.

Clinton dominated Sanders in Louisiana, taking 66.1 percent of rural votes to 22.4 percent for Sanders. Overall, Clinton received 71.1 percent of votes in Louisiana, compared to 23.2 percent for Sanders. Sanders won in Nebraska, 57.1 percent to 42.9 percent, but Clinton did better in rural areas than she did in metro ones, getting 48.1 percent of rural votes and 42.4 percent of votes in cities. Sanders beat Clinton in the overall vote in Kansas, 67.7 percent to 32.3 percent. (Read more)